Geary State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area — Attraction in Kansas

Great place! Only complaint was that there was a dead beaver and dead muskrat at the bottom of the falls. I would have chucked them into the woods if I had a glove.

The trail itself is not super easy to traverse. Walking across the dam takes about 10 minutes. There is a steep decline and steep incline when you leave. Sometimes, after a rain, the trail might be slippery. I found a tiny seed tick on my daughter, so make sure you have bug repellant and sunscreen, and wear creek shoes. Avoid touching trees where ticks might like to fall onto you. Check yourself and your children after you get home.

The geology of the place is nuts! There is so much shale and clay. I enjoyed the striped clay, and even took home a small piece.

Some of the falls are squirting out from the rock, so it is cool water. Many teens were there enjoying themselves, climbing on the rocks, and exploring. People older than myself made the hike down just to take photos.

Please consider bringing a trash bag, or even a little walmart bag to help pick up trash you see. And take your own trash home!!

I did not see any broken glass, so that was a blessing. A great place for anyone 3 and up, I say! Better than a water park!! Maybe leave your dog at home. There were no dogs there, and I didn't want...

Beautiful waterfall

The waterfall isn't 'seasonal', but rather dependent on the lake level. A steady, heavy rain is a must for it to be moving. We've visited after a days worth the rain a few times in all seasons before and were disappointed. The lake must be pretty darn full for this waterfall to be operational. If you can see a majority of the rocks along the edge of the lake where the path to the falls is, don't waste your time hiking to the waterfall.

Watch out for snakes.

We noticed the local rivers were pretty darn full around town a few days after Christmas, so we opted to go check out the waterfall on an afternoon with a windchill of 19 degrees. Once we hit the footpath, we heard the glorious sound of rushing water for the first time in the dozens of times we've tried to see it flowing. Our seeing the waterfall in action for the first time was a "Finally!" moment.

We went back two days later while a friend was in town (and brought the camera along, too), and it had already changed. Water was still rushing, but some water coming from the spillway had frozen, forming huge beards of icicles and ice crystals. It was pretty neato. I spent a good half hour wandering the area until my frozen hands could no longer...

(Short notes: no restrooms, no picnic area, definitely trek not a train, and plan around the weather.)

We drove about 2 hours to visit, it was indeed very beautiful. After looking at other reviews it seems the best time to visit is after a very heavy rain, today in particular it wasn’t flowing much. But enough to definitely enjoy the water and sit in the falls. The only downside is the walk to the waterfall from the parking lot. The train wasn’t exactly the easiest due to us wanting to bring a cooler with drinks and lunch. It was extremely narrow and steep in some spots so having to carry anything with you could be a challenge. Wear real shoes for the short hike and river shoes if you plan on getting in the water. Beware of copperheads in the water there was definitely quite a few in the deeper pools. But overall we were all very happy we got to experience this adventure and being able to see all the amazing geology. There’s also a small natural spring and quite a few mulberry trees. Not sure if I would make the drive a second time but it’s by far a destination you have to see...